It Pays To Worship God

Solomon continues praying:

1You, our God,

are gentle and trustworthy,

patiently ruling the universe

with mercy.

2We know your mighty power,

and so we remain your people,

even if we sin.

But knowing we are yours

will keep us from sin.

3Nothing is more fitting

than knowing you

and realizing that your power

is the way to endless life.

4We have not been misled

by wicked artists,

who made bright-colored idols

5to encourage fools to worship

those lifeless images.

6Those who make or worship

idols as objects of hope

will get what they deserve

for loving such evil things.

It Is Foolish To Worship Clay Idols

Solomon continues praying:

7Potters form ordinary dishes and special dishes from the same lump of clay, and only the potters decide which ones will be ordinary or special. 8Then--wasting their energy--these potters form a useless idol from the same clay. And not long ago, these potters themselves were made from the soil and will soon turn back into soil, just like all other humans, when it is time to return our borrowed souls.

9But these potters don't care that we all must die or that life is short. They consider it a wonderful thing to mold false gods, and all they care about is competing with others, who make idols out of gold or silver or copper. 10The heart of such workers is made of ashes, their hope is worth no more than dirt, and their lives are of less value than clay, 11because they don't know you, the God who formed their bodies, then filled them with a lively soul and breathed into them a living spirit. 12They think of life as a meaningless game or as a festival for making money, because they believe that we should try to get rich in every way possible, even by dishonesty. 13More than anyone else, these people realize that they are sinning when they make dishes and idols from the same clay.

The Egyptians

Solomon continues praying:

14Our God, those Egyptians who abused your people were the most foolish of all and were more pitiful than infants. 15This is because they believed their pagan idols really were gods--those images that could neither see nor breathe nor hear nor use their hands or feet. 16They were made by some human whose soul was borrowed, and none of us can make a god that is our equal. 17In fact, we humans are mortal ourselves, and any idol we make with our own evil hands is less than we are and is completely lifeless.

18Those Egyptians worshiped snakes, the lowest form of animal life, 19a form of life so ugly that you did not even give it your blessing.